22 December 2008 (Monday)

My third day in UK, my first day in Bristol….never in my wildest dream that I will be here one day…..when I read a novel about London, watched English movies mentioned about a sailor from Bristol, I thought the name did not give any meaning to me. But today, I am in Bristol; forget about how hard to wake up after 13 hours flight, forget about how cold the water is, forget about 3 pieces on my back, I was totally intoxicated with UK mayhem…hahhahahha….i don’t mind put on gloves and jacket…hahahha…I feel like I am minah salleh now…cannot leave home without jacket hanging behind the door…hahahhaha …..how can I put the my feeling on the paper, I really don’t know but one thing for sure I am in UK, I love every minute of it and whatever comes never shake my patient to face the challenge here…….

My flight to Edinburgh is on 2 pm at Bristol International Airport, we could get there with Bristol Flyers Bus (a bus to go to airport) which we checked its schedule on the net….how I wish Malaysian public transportation that sophisticated!!! So we waited the bus in front of Sainsbury….I was charged with adult fair but my mate, is very luck..she is damn lucky…as a student pursuing PhD in Bristol University entitled her half a price for students fair…ermmm face the reality, I cannot disguise myself and not even deserve to be one!!!

We took return ticket which is cheaper, in UK I can feel and see that people’s welfare are really taken care of…not all afford to use personal car, not only a parking space is limited also the parking fees can burn the pocket…..hence UK people prefer to use public transportation and better walking!!(I was immersed with this habit and continue walking even after I am back in Malaysia) So UK government imposed cheaper fare affordable to all walks of life. Imagine that in Mesia, to go to airport, there is no special bus, you must use your own transport, using taxis and in KL, you need to take special train (KLIA Express) to go to the airport!!! Ermm…and in UK too, you can hop in, hop out from one destination to another using all day rides ticket…which cost you 3.50 pound…so you don’t have to pay each time you hop in one bus just show the ticket to the driver, you will reach to the destination…..isn’t awesome??

Around 12.30 pm, we queued up at the Easy Jet counter, the orange airline just like Air Asia in Malaysia, which I bet Air Asia copying the concept from them. Then while waiting for the flight we took few photos around the airport.





Around 2 p.m. we boarded the bus to the plane and the journey took about 1 hour. Upon arriving we took a bus 100 Airlink, a coach like Bristol flyers which took us to the Edinburgh city. We know that Edinburgh is a beautiful city, however the darkness blighted our view…huhuhuhu…it was too dark and we didn’t know where Musselburgh is…our Travelodge…

Being a traveler, usual thing for you to ask direction so we asked where and how to get to Musselburgh, luckily we asked a right guy…he even told me where to stop and to get the bus. It was 3 days before Christmas so Princess Streets was quite occupied with people, last minute shopping, like we in Malaysia. In Scotland, please make sure you have small change with you because you will not be allowed to board bus without small and exact change (rugilah duit pound mahal). The day became dark and dark; we felt chilling at one time when we were told to wait for other bus…but eventually we got on the same bus to the destination…so pelik…. The traffic was so bad, like KL during peak hour, so ada lah one makcik with strong Scottish accent (Gaelic I supposed) keep on abusing the driver and curse the traffic. We hardly understood what she tried to say…and in the bus there is a sign noted that passenger cannot disturb the driver…ermm make me wonder…do they always receive harsh treatment from passengers??

Amidst of chaos and anxiety we managed to ask one boy to show us where to stop, he was so helpful, a local lad, he did his own shopping for Christmas…we felt secure and confident. Unfortunate….we got down at the wrong place….it was dark, chilling, we were confused, starved and worried…we kept on by asking local lady the location of our Travelodge, even she cannot help us.. Deep down we knew that we can make it to the destination….

We have a bit of luck on our side, we approached a man and his wife for direction…he was astonished because we were at the wrong route…we supposed to be in Old Craig Hall (location for the Travelodge), but we were at New Craig Hall. The couple asked us to her house while they tried to get the taxi for us. Thank God!!! Tetapi Pakcik tuh pulak offered himself to send us to the Travelodge using his Mercedes….we felt doubtful and worried because he just have a pint or two…so he might lose the way…still the man insisted to drive us and along the way he showed us a place to get the bus, the bus no and even send us to the reception. We were so thankful to Allah because we never know what will happen to us without his aid and his kindness made us realized that we were welcome in this strange land even we are two Muslim women wearing veil…..regardless the conflict of religion due to September 11, Christian people still treat us well over here....Bless you Uncle…...opss we forgot to ask name and we know God will bless u and your wife.

We spent a night over there, quite a huge family Travelodge room and we planned for tomorrow big escapade day……